After luring women under the guise of musical mentorship, parents of some of the women who are currently engaged in relationships with Kelly and former members of the star’s “inner circle” describe a specific pattern of abuse: The star begins sexual relationships with the young women, and then moves them into his rental homes (called “guest houses”) in Chicago and the Atlanta suburbs. “He controls every aspect of their lives: dictating what they eat, how they dress, when they bathe, when they sleep, and how they engage in sexual encounters that he records,” BuzzFeed reports. They allegedly relinquish their cell phones to Kelly, effectively cutting off communication with their families, and are issued new cell phones that Kelly monitors. Cheryl Mack, Kelly’s former personal assistant, said, “You have to ask for food. You have to ask to go use the bathroom . . . [Kelly] is a master at mind control . . . He is a puppet master.”

BuzzFeed’s revolting read—reported by Jim DeRogatis, the same reporter who received the leaked videotape that he turned over to police which helped lead to Kelly’s 2008 child pornography trial—goes on to provide the details of Kelly’s alleged sexual predation: One of the women reportedly living in Kelly’s “guest house” in Duluth, Georgia, is a “den mother” who “trained” new girls “on how Kelly liked to be pleasured sexually.” Kelly nicknames the girls “babies” and they must, in turn, refer to him as “Daddy.” Black SUVs are parked outside the “guest houses,” seemingly to ensure no woman leaves. Leaving—or rebelling in any way—can lead to physical punishment by Kelly: Kitti Jones, a “former insider,” said Kelly once “held her against a tree and slapped her outside of a Subway sandwich shop in spring 2013 because she had been too friendly with the male cashier there.”

Parents tell BuzzFeed they are desperately fighting to get their daughters back from Kelly—two sets who spoke at length for the story have similar stories: Teen daughters who were 17 and 19 when Kelly first met them as aspiring singers, promised by Kelly that he’d help boost their musical careers. Both were aware of the past allegations against Kelly, but said they initially never thought Kelly would be alone with their daughters. Unbeknownst to them, Kelly allegedly seduced their daughters through secret text messages and phone calls and, later, trips to visit him (in which one set of parents from Georgia—called just J. and Tim in the story for privacy purposes—thought their daughter was going on a college visit; instead, she was being flown by Kelly to meet him at an Oklahoma City concert, after which they reportedly had sex). The Georgia woman secretly kept up a relationship with Kelly while attending a Georgia college, eventually missing classes, changing her appearance to Kelly’s specifications, and effectively cutting ties with her parents. They last saw her over seven months ago. “It was as if she was brainwashed,” her mother said. “[She] looked like a prisoner—it was horrible. . . . she just kept saying she’s in love and [Kelly] is the one who cares for her.”

J. and Tim have contacted local authorities and even the FBI, but as their daughter is above the age of consent and claims to be in a consensual relationship with Kelly, they find themselves in a standstill. (Meanwhile, Kelly’s career continues to thrive—he’s touring this summer, as a matter of fact, and starred in a digital campaign for Alexander Wang).

“R. Kelly is the sweetest person you will ever want to meet,” a former entourage member who had a sexual relationship with Kelly said, “But Robert is the devil.” As to what has amounted to a personal crusade for justice on behalf of the musician’s alleged victims, DeRogatis is persevering even as much of the music industry and some fans seem to overlook the claims against Kelly. In an interview with the Village Voice in 2013, DeRogatis put it this way: “The saddest fact I’ve learned is nobody matters less to our society than young black women. Nobody.”

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